A Nightmare Come True
by Sammi-Rae
Summary: Hinata's been missing for 4 years. Everyone beleives she's dead. Except one blonde shinobi. Will he ever find her? If nightmares are any indication then one little girl knows the answer. Naruhina!
1. The Irony of It All

_**A Nightmare Come True**_

_**Chapter 1**_

"_**The Irony of it all!'**_

SR – HAHA I'm baaaack! Well I know I still haven't finished ACD yet but I thought this might help me….idk….focus or something

Naru – WHAT!? I wanna know what happens in the other story!

Hina – Naruto-kun calm down, I'm sure she'll still finish ACD right SR-Chan?

SR - …ah..hehehe…o-of c-course Hina-chan. I just need to think on it longer

Naru - *mumbles* cha right..lazy good for nothing wr….ACK

SR – *gags Naruto with a dirty gym sock* alright well enjoy! And a special thanks to RD-Kun!!!

_**Hinata's New Family **_

_Keiko - __Beloved one. Hinata's foster mother. She is sweet, kind, very calm tempered, and gentle. Stay at home mother, helps run things around the farm for her husband Kiyoshi._

_Kiyoshi__ – Silent one. Hinata's foster father. He lives up to his name meaning. He believes in hard work and determination to achieve your goal, never goes half ass on anything. Expects the same from his family._

_Hoshi__ – star. Age 13. Daughter of Nyoko and Kiyoshi, Hinata's foster sister. Hoshi is just or maybe even more energetic than Naruto. The center of attention is where she loves to be, though she doesn't go to extremes to get there. She is extremely gullible, and sometimes seems a little dense. Though she isn't._

_Kisho__ – 19. one who knows his own mind. Hinata's foster brother. Kisho is actually the same age as Hinata; he also lives up to his name. He tends to speak his mind quit frequently, to anyone who will listen. Most of the time his comments are more negative than nice._

_Nozomi__ – hope. Hinata's friend from the small farming town they live in. Also 19 Nozomi is what some would call a blind believer. She is very head strong in her beliefs of love, and theories. Secretly she has a crush on Kisho. Secretly envies Rai's looks._

_Rai__ – trust. Rai is Hinata's friend, also Nozomi's twin sister. Although they look nothing alike. Rai has a purple tinge to her black hair. While Nozomi's is a light brown. Rai is as her name says a very trusting person, and looked on as an idiot. When in actuality she is a very good judge of character, and tends to be shy around strangers unlike Nozomi .And though shy around strangers, she's very open and blunt around her friends and family. Her biggest secret is that she wants to be like Nozomi._

* * *

Hoshi crept across the floor as quietly as possible, her green eyes gleaming with mischievous intent. She was sure her victim, who lay only feet away covered fully in her blanket, was clueless to her presence. Hoshi leapt from the floor to land on top of the bundled blankets.

"Got you Hinata!" Hoshi screamed.

Hinata, who had been brushing her teeth, walked into the room from her adjourning bathroom when Hoshi jumped onto her empty bed screaming out her declaration of victory.

"Did you Hoshi-Chan?" Hinata laughed. She couldn't help it, sometimes Hoshi just seemed...a little on the dull side.

Hoshi looked from the bundled blankets, then to Hinata. Something clicked in her mind and she pulled the covers away to see nothing but pillows beneath her. She huffed then crossed her arms. That was the second time this week she fell for Hinata's pillow trick. Hinata laughed then walked to her dresser to grab her hair brush, her bracelet gleaming on the light from the room, catching Hoshi's envious eyes. Hinata sat herself behind Hoshi comfortably and started to brush the tangles from Hoshi's blonde hair.

"You know Keiko-san was looking for you yesterday afternoon. Where did you go?"

Hoshi huffed again. "I didn't want to do my chores, so I went to my secret place. Chores are stupid!"

Hinata laughed and pulled Hoshi's shinning blonde hair back into two nice braided pigtails.

"Hoshi you know Kiyoshi-san doesn't like you skipping your chores."

Hoshi sighed, and then stood to look at herself in the mirror above Hinata's dresser with a smile. Chores were probably the one thing in the entire world that Hoshi hated most! So instead she took the alternative, skipping out to go to her secret place to practice what she loved to do best....singing. Hoshi turned her attention away from the mirror to look at the silver bracelet around Hinata's wrist.

It was the only thing Hinata had with her when she was discovered just a couple of miles outside the village. It was so beautiful. Hoshi could never seem to keep her eyes off of it.

"Why do you _still_ call mom and dad, Keiko-san and Kiyoshi-san?"

Hinata bit her bottom lip. The question shouldn't make her as uncomfortable as it did, but the anxiety was inevitable.

"Hoshi-Chan you know why..." was the only response Hinata could think of.

In truth neither Keiko nor Kiyoshi were Hinata's real parents....she didn't know who her parents were, or if they even missed her. Absent mindedly she fiddled with the bracelet, the name Hinata engraved into the silver between two spiraling suns. In reality she had no idea if Hinata was even her real name....she had no idea....who she was. The only clue to her past was the small little chain around her wrist. She wore it everywhere.

Hoshi climbed back onto the bed to sit next to Hinata. "So you still haven't figured out who gave it to you?" Hoshi asked.

Hinata could only shrug her shoulders, she hadn't the faintest clue. Though she'd be lying if said she didn't think about it almost every waking moment.

Hoshi could sense her onee-chan's depression so she did the only thing a 13 year old could think of to cheer her up.

With a wicked little smirk she spoke. "Mayyyybe....it was your boyfriend!"

The younger girl proceeded to make kissy faces at her older sister. Hinata rolled her eyes, half smiling at the little brat, before pushing her off the bed where she landed on the hard-wood floor with an 'oof'.

Hinata couldn't deny the fact that, most of her, kind of liked the idea of having someone who cared for her….in that way……. Then again there was the fact that if she used to have a boyfriend...she sure as heck didn't anymore........Did he miss her?

Hinata pushed her thoughts aside. Of course they didn't miss her; if they did she wouldn't have been living with the Marumi family for the last four years of her life. Besides they were her family now, she didn't need to know her past....as long as she had her future....right? As much as Hinata wanted that to be true, a part of her still burned to know who she was....who she 'really' was.

"Oiy! I was only kidding Onee-chan! I'm sorry I upset you…." Hoshi hadn't missed the crest fallen look on her sisters face so she hurried to apologize. The smarter side appearing on the usually oblivious little blonde.

Hinata smiled at the distraught girl. Covering up the emotions she had unknowingly been showing. "I better hurry up. Nozomi, Rai, and I are going to hang out today."

Hoshi smiled knowing that Hinata wasn't mad at her for her comment. So she climbed back onto the bed and pulled out some nail polish from Hinata's dresser drawer. Deciding a nice neon green was just what she needed she set to work painting her toe-nails.

Meanwhile Hinata made her way from the bed to her bathroom taking a kimono with her to change. After slipping it on and freshening up a bit she turned to inspect herself in the mirror.

The yukata wasn't long, only going an inch past her knees. It had been her "mother's", but now belonged to her.

Keiko had stated simply that it was what she was wearing when she met Kiyoshi. Then with a suggesting wink left a blushing Hinata to her own thoughts.

Remembering those words brought another blush upon the indigo-haired girl.

The yukata was a light purple with pale blue trim, and embroidered butterflies, which accented her pale lavender eyes. She smiled at her reflection then pulled her indigo hair into a messy bun, stray strands, and bangs falling to frame her face.

Hoshi sat on the bed silently, staring at her shiny new toe-nails…. fighting the one question that was burning in the back of her mind.

"Hinata..." Hoshi whispered. Hinata peeked out into the other room showing that Hoshi had her attention. "If.....well not saying that it would happen....BUT if you found your home. Would you leave?"

Hinata smiled reassuringly then walked over to give Hoshi a hug. "Of course not sweetie! I admit, that it would be nice to know who I...really am, but I would never leave you! No ones as good as my Hoshi-Chan. What would make you ask that anyway?"

"Today is the day we found you DUH! You never know maybe today someone from your past will find you!"

Hoshi tried to sound optimistic, when her real hope was that it would never happen. Hoshi knew it was selfish, but she didn't care! Hinata was her older sister no matter what someone else said. Besides her dream had scared the little girl to death, someone had the nerve to run off with her Hinata-Chan and Hoshi couldn't do anything but cry and plead for them to bring her back.

Hinata rolled her eyes and nudged Hoshi away playfully. "Yeah right! They just happen to find me on the same day that I....urm....disappeared?"

Just like Hinata didn't know who her parents were or anything else about her past, she had no idea how she had gotten separated from the ones she used to call 'family'. All she remembered was waking up in her room surrounded by Keiko, Kiyoshi, Rai, Nozomi, Kisho and Hoshi.

"Well we better get going. You know how Keiko-san gets when we're late for breakfast."

Hoshi jumped up from the bed with a loud battle cry "RACE YA!"

In a flash Hoshi was gone leaving Hinata to walk downstairs by herself. Making it to the kitchen she found Keiko standing in front a sink full of dishes, a smile on her face like always. Kiyoshi and Kisho sat at the table taking bites of their oatmeal, while quietly reading their sections of the newspaper.

Hoshi had taken her seat to the right of Kisho, waiting for her mother to serve her a bowl. However the look Kiyoshi sent her way made her rethink and serve herself. Keiko who had just turned to grab the empty cups smiled when she saw Hinata standing in the doorway.

"Off to see the girls already?"

Hinata nodded. "Hai, we're going up to the apple orchard today!"

Keiko nodded. "Have fun dear, and bring some back so I can make pie."

"Alright!" Kisho cheered giving his little sister a high five.

Hinata laughed at the pair of them. Kisho was such a morning person, it was almost sickening. And he rarely showed this side of himself when around other people. Though most of the time he seemed to be a very negative person, Hinata knew better. He was very sweet, he always spoke his opinion even if other people found it harsh, but that was just one of the things Hinata loved about her older brother.

Hinata nodded to Keiko then went to leave before her mother could stopped her again, but it was too late.

"By the way you look beautiful in that outfit my little hime."

Hinata blushed furiously, and then ran outside to meet her friends, before her mother could embarrass her any further.

The two of them sat waiting for her just down the street. Nozomi had her nose planted into some little orange book oblivious to the world around her. While Rai stood by her side, simultaneously rolling her eyes, and trying to persuade her sister that the book was nothing but an evil obsession.

The pair smiled as Hinata approached.

"Ne Hinata-Chan trying to impress someone?!" Rai yelled out to her. Smirking as the trade-mark blush spread across the other girls face. All the commotion caused Nozomi to snap out of her daze, and spot Hinata walking toward them.

A gentle smile crept onto her lips, which contrasted greatly with the smirk of her twin sister. "You look nice Hinata-chan."Snapping the book shut Nozomi stood. "Well we better get going then."

The three of them grabbed some baskets from Rai and Nozomi's barn then headed up the trail leading to the top of the cliff where the apple orchard sat.

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The tip of his pencil tapped on the surface of the desk every two seconds like clockwork. Tsunade cradled her head in her hands trying like hell not to scream at the annoying blonde across from her. Yet just like the ringing in your ear, and ten times as annoying, Naruto tapped his pencil methodically, humming to himself. It seemed almost a non-existent thing at first, no where near bothering Tsunade. Now however his taps seemed to be getting louder every minute. She cringed when led meet wood for a tap as loud as thunder in suspended time. She really couldn't take this torture anymore; it was too much to ask.

"Would you stop tapping that damn pencil!!!!!!!"

Naruto jumped ten feet in the air when Tsunade screamed at him. He really hadn't been that annoying.....had he? Naruto scoffed and laid the pencil down next to the paperwork he was suppose to be filling out. Other things were on his mind, and he would rather be anywhere else than locked up in the eerily quiet room with Tsunade.

Naruto twisted and turned in his chair, his legs itching to get up and stand, to do anything at that point actually. Who knew becoming the Rokudaime was going to be such a big pain in the ass. That and he was sure he was forgetting something very important at the moment.

Tsunade growled as Naruto yet again shifted his position in the chair with a loud overdramatic sigh. It wasn't enough that Shizune dumped this heap load of paperwork on her, no, she also had to put up with the whines and complaints of Naruto. Honestly no one told her being Hokage was going to be such a big pain in the ass.

"Would you stop that!"

"Fine!" Naruto shot back at Tsunade.

He stopped fidgeting...momentarily then started all over again glancing all around the room looking for something remotely interesting to catch his attention.....there was nothing.

"Kami! This is so boring!!" He screamed out.

Tsunade had, had enough. She stood quickly, absent mindedly knocking her chair to the floor, and slammed her fist on the desk screaming at Naruto "SHUT UP! Don't you have somewhere else to be?!"

The question was more of a plea for him to leave than it was an actual question.

Naruto brought his hand up to cup his chin in a thinking pose, and then snapped his fingers. He finally remembered what was so important; he had completely forgotten that today was his first time leading an ANBU team. It was only a standard guarding mission to take Gaara back to the sand village, but still it was something to do!

"Your right!" Naruto jumped from his seat and sprung out the open window, yelling back his good byes to Tsunade.

Tsunade picked her chair back up, and then took a seat.

"Baka"

She looked around her office making sure that no one was in the room before she slid open a drawer to bring out a half-full bottle of sake. She poured it into a cup with a devious smile.

"Sweet sanctuary!"

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Sakura and Sasuke both stood on the bridge, team 7's meeting spot once again. Both in an awkward silence, neither one was willing to speak. Sasuke was perfectly ok with the quite; though he was a little annoyed that Sakura neither looked at him nor went out of her way to catch his attention.

She hadn't done it in the past few years, since he came back to Konoha, actually. Sakura talked to him, yes, but only about small trivial things like the weather and occasionally her day. Instead she spent most of her time at the hospital or hanging out with that spandex wearing loser Lee.

While Sasuke was musing over those thoughts, Sakura's were on a completely differen't matter. She was starting to get really ticked, Naruto was leading the squad but he had yet to show up! Which meant they were late meeting Gaara and the others at the gate. WHICH made them look totally incompetent!

She clenched her fists fighting the urge to punch anything close to her. Sakura knew that she had issues with anger, but with a best friend like Naruto it was a wonder that she wasn't in the psych ward already.

"NNNNNAAAARRRRRUUUTTOOOO!"

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Naruto caught the sight of his team waiting at the bridge. He smiled as he came closer but was knocked back a peg by the loud scream that erupted from Sakura's mouth. He mentally cursed before hesitantly landing on the railing next to Sasuke. This wasn't going to be pretty he just knew it.

"H-Heeeey."

Sakura turned to glare evilly at Naruto a vein popping out on her forehead. Naruto tried to explain, but it was too late Sakura was already landing the blow to his head, knocking him into the water below.

Sasuke rolled his eyes as usual, he would never admit it, but he had actually missed Sakura and Naruto's antics.

"You ready to go dobe?"

Naruto smiled, completely forgetting about the pounding in his head, as he jumped from the water to land next to Sasuke. Splashing the water in the Uchiha's face as he shook like a dog. Sasuke growled but nothing else, if he retaliated there was a good chance he would try and kill Naruto, then be put back on probation. People watching his every move was annoying, and not something he wanted to go through again. Naruto pointed in Sasuke's face, trying his hardest to get on the boy's nerves. He had to make up for lost time after all.

"That's captain dobe to you Emo-boy!"

"Watch it Dobe!" Sasuke was getting really irritated now and the cocky grin on Naruto's face was only making it worse.

"Or what Sas-Gay!" Naruto shot back.

Sakura sighed to herself knowing the only way this was going to end was in a huge fight. So before either boy could jump at the other she got in between knocking both on the head.

"Would you two knock it off! We have to get going! It should only take about an hour to get there and get back."

Sakura turned away from them hiding her smile before walking off, both the boys following behind her grumbling to their selves.

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Hinata walked underneath the trees staring up at the branches, trying to decide which held the best looking apples. It seemed to be a toss up between the large one at the end of the valley, or the one she was standing underneath at the moment, right in the middle of a vast field.

She looked back to where Rai and Nozomi stood a few feet into the woods, then dropped her empty basket and started to climb. Hinata made it almost to the tip top before deciding she was high enough.

Today seemed like the perfect day to slack off. They had been up in the apple orchard for hours now and Hinata had yet to pick a single apple. She was much more interested in sight seeing. The apple trees were rather large, and from the top you could get a good view of the valley. The sight was breathe taking!

"Hey Hinata!"

Hinata looked down to see Rai and Nozomi standing underneath her. "We're going to take these ones down to oka-san. We'll be back up in a few minutes ok?"

Hinata nodded sending Rai and Nozomi on their way. She smiled in content ness and leaned back against the tree limb. Watching the clouds float by through the leaves. It was so soothing….Slowly her eyes started to close, until she was fast asleep.

_The night sky was pitch black, no stars for miles and miles. She shifted unsteadily on her feet. Something about this place seemed so familiar._

_There were no sounds of animals, no crickets, no bird calls flying through the night air. Slowly her defining world become a booming blur of screams. _

_Hinata looked around frantically there was no one around but she could hear them. The screams of dying people echoed through her mind. _

_"Hinata!" Someone called out from the darkness. _

_Hinata turned in circles looking for the source of the scream yet found nothing. She fell to her knees, tears streaming from her red puffy eyes. "Stop!"_

_Her plea only seemed to make the voices louder, until she started to see them. Images of something fading in and out of her mind. They were unclear, but_

_the blood chilling screams with them left no room to the imagination as to what was happening. _

_Hinata closed her eyes, trying her hardest to block out the images. Covering her ears in a futile attempt to shut out the noise. She screamed as loud and _

_long as her lungs would let her until the screams dissipated into the air. Hinata was trembling from her head to her toes. She could hear her heart pounding _

_against her rib cage. Blinking she opened her eyes, to come face to face with the golden eyes of a fox. _

_She tried to scream but nothing came out. She tried to move but her body was paralyzed. Hinata couldn't even rip her gaze from the mesmerizing golden_

_orbs of the fox. His tails swooshed around him creating gusts of wind like hurricanes. Hinata flinched as it brought one to caress her face. Then _

_she started to realize that it wasn't threatening her. Her body relaxed. "Wake up." _

"Naruto you idiot! Now we're behind schedule! I was supposed to meet Lee for dinner!" Sakura growled at Naruto as they made their way past the apple tree that Hinata was laying in.

Sakura groaned out of annoyance. Of course this is what she gets for having such a knuckle-headed leader.

The loud scream had scared Hinata from her sleep. She sprang up clinging onto the trunk of the tree for support, still trembling from her dream. She couldn't remember ever having a dream like that before. As a matter of fact she couldn't even remember ever dreaming. She took a few steadying breaths then looked down to see that three people stood just below her. One was obviously a female, and the other two were male.

Hinata turned to lie on her stomach on the branch and stare down at the three. She couldn't see their faces but she could see the masks sitting on top their heads. She knew it was wrong to listen in to other people's conversation, but in her own defense, she couldn't just jump down from the tree to show herself, then run-off. It would seem....odd!

She studied their masks a little closer before one caught her eye. Each one of them seemed to have the faces of different animals painted onto them. The pink haired woman had a mask that had a cat like face painted onto it. The dark haired male had a hawk like mask, but the one that really caught her attention was the mask with the fox face painted in red, sitting a top of messy blonde locks.

"Gomen Sakura-chan. I just wanted to spend some time with Gaara-kun." Naruto whined giving Sakura his best looking sad face. It seemed to work. He really hadn't intended for them to get lost like this, but his mind just wasn't with him today. Instead of paying attention to where he was leading them, he had been thinking of _her_….

"Well how on earth did we lose our trail! Weren't you paying attention while we made our way to Suna?!" she asked aggravated

Naruto just gave his best fox grin. "I-I was talking with G-Garra-san...hehe."

Sakura's eyes twitched as a daydream of beating a chibi Naruto into the ground ran through her mind. But instead of actually hitting that baka Sakura cooled a little bit, a sad twinkle entering her eyes. She knew today was a tough day for the idiot. Of course he wouldn't be paying much attention to what he was doing. Anything that could distract him today would, if only to get her off his mind for a few minutes.

"*sigh* It's ok Naruto."

Sakura slumped against the trunk of the tree they stood beneath before falling onto her butt with a smile. Boy it felt good to sit after a long day. Besides she had decided for herself that if they were already this late there was really no point in rushing back. She knew Lee would understand. And with all the running around Tsunade had her doing lately a little break really wouldn't hurt that much.

Meanwhile above the kunoichi Hinata was mentally cursing herself for not getting out of there sooner.

Naruto and Sasuke looked to each other confused, and then looked back to Sakura. "What are you doing?" Naruto asked.

"We've been walking all day I need some time to relax. I'm already late for dinner with Lee so why not take a break right?" Sakura stated simply.

Naruto shrugged, he couldn't beat that logic, and sat down next to her fixing him self comfortably in the shade while Sasuke stood.

Hinata bit her bottom lip, trying to decide how to get out of the tree without them realizing she had been spying in on their conversation. Hinata had heard many stories about the ninja that roamed back and fourth through these parts, and from what she heard, they didn't like snoops. Then again if they were such great ninja, then why hadn't they noticed her yet?

Pushing the thought aside she sat up then fixed her foot on a smaller branch bellow the one she lay on. If she could just get to the other side of the tree then maybe, just maybe, she could make a run for it.

She shifted her weight, trying hard not to put to much force on the branch too fast. She sighed in relief when she stood on the branch totally unscathed and the people below her completely oblivious.

Then she heard it the creaking sound of the branch starting to break. Her eyes went wide and her body went numb. Before she could jump off the smaller branch it snapped beneath her weight, luckily she managed to snap her body out of its paralysis just in time to grab on to the larger branch above her.

"So Sak..." Naruto stopped halfway through speaking when a branch fell onto his head. "What the hell!"

Sakura tried to cover her laugh. "Looks like the tree doesn't like you sitting here Naruto!"

Hinata bit her lip praying to Kami that the blonde wouldn't look up here. She swung her other hand up to catch the branch then flipped herself up and over to a sitting position in one fluid motion. She looked back down praying that they had moved on, but sadly her prayers went unanswered.

"HaHa your funny!"

Naruto looked up to see where the branch had come from only to lock his crystalline blue eyes with horrified lavender ones. His eyes went wide....It couldn't be...

"....Hinata?...."

Hinata was taken back by the man calling out to her that she had momentarily lost her balance. But a moment was all it took for her to go falling backward out of the tree. She let out a scream as she fell from the branch to come crashing down on the blonde shinobi beneath her.

Quickly she scrambled to get up, muttering her apologies. They were going to kill her!! Not wanting to stay any longer she ran to the other side of the tree, grabbing her basket, and heading off again.

Naruto was brought out of his daze by Hinata's rushed get away. Not wanting to loose sight of her he followed behind then reached out to grab her arm and turn her around before she got too far.

Hinata met his gaze once again, and couldn't help but blush. This "Naruto" was very handsome.

"I'm really sorry I didn't mean to....urm....land on your..I..." Hinata stuttered through her words. She didn't want to sound like an idiot, but she was terrified right now!

Naruto cut her off "Hinata?"

He studied her closely, every inch of her, there was no mistaking it, there was no one else she could be! She sure as hell wasn't 15 any more, but there was no way he could miss her beautiful lavender eyes, or her soft sweet voice.

"Hinata! I found you! I knew I would!"

Naruto smiled like an idiot, his eyes welling up with tears, without a second thought he wrapped Hinata into a hug, sweeping her off her feet to swing her around. When he reluctantly let her go, he noticed the confused look in her eyes, his smile faded.

"Hinata what's wrong? Where have you been!? We thought we lost you, but I knew….I knew you were alive, I just knew it. "

Hinata shook her head taking a few steps back. She was trying hard not to make eye contact with 'Naruto'. 'Lost me??'

"I-I'm sorry....you must be thinking of another Hinata."

Out of instinct Hinata reached up to brush stray hairs out of her face, the way she always did when she got nervous, causing her bracelet to shine momentarily. Naruto lashed out catching her wrist turning it over to inspect it. It was the bracelet he had given her for her fifteenth birthday....four days before she went missing during the retrieval mission for Sasuke. The one true confession of his love for the shy little kunoichi.

"Another Hinata?....I don't understand….I gave this to you.....you don't remember?"

Hinata pulled her hand away. Was he her.....no he couldn't be her boyfriend. Hoshi's childish comment about Hinata's boyfriend being the one to give her the treasured bracelet ran through her mind. She quickly pushed the thought away. Focusing more on the bigger issue. This man claimed to know her. Could he be someone from her blurry past? Before she realized it the question slipped.

"You gave this to me?.....So you know who I am?"

Naruto raised his brows then turned to Sakura for some help, but she only stared at Hinata like a child who had found their favorite 'long lost' toy. Tears freely flowing down her face.

He turned back to Hinata furrowing his brows, trying hard to make scents of her comment. Something was wrong with her. She had no clue who he was or that he had given her that bracelet on the day he had gotten enough courage to ask her out during her birthday party.

"Of course....why wouldn't I?....Hinata....You...you don't know who I am do you?"

The question hurt a great deal, but he needed to know why Hinata wasn't as excited to see him as he was to see her. He had pictured this day countless times in his mind. He would find Hinata and she would be so happy she'd run into his arms with tears of joy.....this however was no where near what he had expected.

Hinata saw the sad look in the mans eyes, she didn't want to disappoint him, but she couldn't lie to him. She shook her head then quickly went on to explain.

"I-I lost...my memory, a few years ago. I don't remember anything before these last 4 years......Were...were we acquaintances?" Hinata had to ask. She needed to know who this man was, and how she knew him.

Naruto couldn't even answer; he could literally feel his heart ripping in half......so she didn't remember him. Tsunade had told him countless times to stop getting his hopes up. But once he saw her he couldn't help but let them rise. Everyone had thought she was gone from their lives forever. He was the only one who wouldn't give into what they said to be the 'facts'. After all they hadn't found her body, so who were they to tell him she was dead. And what do you know he was right, but….but she didn't even remember him…

Sakura saw Naruto's eyes darken into an ocean storm, a sure sign that he was deeply hurting, and walked up to Hinata distracting her momentarily.

"We were a little more than acquaintances Hinata-Chan.......I-I think we should get you back home before we start to figure this out. Everyone's going to be so happy to see you!"

Hinata's heart was filled so full she could barely contain the excitement. All she could think of was how ironic it was that she had found her past the same day she had lost it. And on top of that her little sister had basically predicted it as if she knew. She would have to ask Hoshi about it later.

"O-ok my house is only a few miles from here....down the cliff." Hinata said. Pointing toward that direction

Sakura looked to where she had pointed then looked back at Hinata sadly shaking her head. "No Hinata, I mean Konoha.....your home."

Hinata narrowed her eyes, and took a few steps back. The excitement washed away like the tide. Did they honestly expect her just to drop everything to follow them, to only Kami knows where?

Her heart started to pound against her chest. What....what if this was all a trick. They were ninja after all. Maybe one of them had found her sleeping in the tree, and saw her name on her bracelet, then decided to play a trick on her to kidnap her. Hinata knew that theory was reaching a little too far, but something in the back of her mind found some truth in it.

"But I can't leave....This is my home."

Sakura sighed; she knew how hard it must be for Hinata right now. She had been missing from there lives for five years now, truthfully everyone had thought she was dead. Naruto was the only one who refused to give into that fact, so they filed her away under missing nin. Who knew he would be right? Either way if they wanted to find out why Hinata lost her memory, what had happened the day she went missing, and how to fix it, then they had to get her back to Konoha. Their were jutsu's there that could help them. Besides Sakura and Hinata had grown very close before she disappeared, and she didn't want to loose that again. Sakura couldn't even begin to imagine the cheers that would erupt when they brought her home.

"Hinata we need you to come with us.....so we can help you."

Hinata looked over each of them, and decided that they weren't lying to her. The looks they gave her definitely were not lies. But could she really just turn her back on her family.

"No!"

Sakura jumped slightly at the anger in her voice. Then with nothing else to say Hinata turned to storm off. Her inner self screamed for her to turn around. To follow these strangers who knew her, but the sensible part, the part that held her feelings, echoed the promise she had made to Hoshi.

Naruto watched Hinata walk away, his heart was running at an alarming pace and his eyes were slicked over with an emotion that scared Sakura and even Sasuke. Panic had taken a hold of the Kyuubi container.

He couldn't let her walk away. Not when he had finally found her. He _needed_ her… Kyuubi insisted that Naruto not do anything stupid, but as usual his words went ignored. Without thinking Naruto reached into one of his pouches pulling out a slightly damp cloth. In a flash he disappeared beside Sakura to reappear behind Hinata. Wrapping one arm tightly around Hinata's waist as the other one covered her mouth with the cloth.

Hinata tried to scream, only making it worse, the liquid from the cloth seeped into her mouth faster. To say she was horrified would be an understatement. Slowly she started to fade, her eyes blinking shut before completely closing.

Naruto pocketed the cloth then scooped Hinata up bridal style. If this was the only way to bring Hinata back then so be it. She belonged in Konoha with her family....with him.

Sakura glared daggers at him. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. Naruto had just drugged Hinata.

"What do you think your doing BAKA! You can't just kidnap her!"

The blonde looked at Sakura then back to the sleeping girl in his arms. What was he doing? This was wrong… 'I don't care I'm bringing her home!' A look of determination sparkled in his eyes.

"Naruto I understand how you feel" Sakura had softened her voice "I really do, but this isn't right! You know it! Put her down and we'll come back another time. We know where she is, and that is enough right now."

Naruto thought about Sakura's words, but his mind was set. Sakura could only look on in shock as Naruto ignored her plea's passing her by with an out of character serious look on his face. He found her and he would_ never_ let her go again! Then without yelling back to Sasuke or Sakura he took off. It _should_ only be a half an hour until the effect wore off and Hinata woke up. He had to get her far away from here before that happened, and into the safety of Konoha.

When Sakura realized how Naruto brushed her off she turned to Sasuke. He could do something, talk some scents into Naruto, and stop him somehow.

Sasuke shrugged off Sakura's stare, which was pleading for him to stop Naruto.

"Technically, he's bringing her home not kidnapping her." was all he said before running off after their leader.

Sakura shook her head in defeat; this was not going to end well.

"Hinata!"

Sakura turned to see two girls running across the field toward her. A part of her wanted to stay, to explain the situation, but as always her inner self out weighed her logical side and before she knew it she had taken off. Leaving the two women to scream out for her to stop.

* * *

SR- ok so how did you like it!!!?

Naru – What the hell!!! I would never drug Hinata-chan like that!!

SR- hmm…really? Think about it Naruto, the girl you love has been missing for 4 YEARS! And when you finally find her she refuses to have anything to do with you…..what would you do then??

Naru - ….damn! Stupid SR-teme

SR- Alright well anyway!!

Hina – Please R&R, we enjoy hearing your opinions ^_^


	2. Bribes, Eyes, and Safety Precautions

_**A Nightmare Come True**_

_**Chapter 2**_

_**'Bribes, Eyes, and Safety Precautions.'**_

SR- Chapter 2 up!! Hooray!

Naru – your updating this thing faster than ACD

Hina – Hai, but it's such a sweet story. I never realized how people would miss me so much *sniffle*

Naru – What!? Of course we would Hina-chan *smiles*

Kisho – Yeah well she's coming back just remember that teme!

Naru – Why you…*starts fighting with Kisho*

SR- oh yeah before I forget again I do not own Naruto. However I DO own the Marumi family! And special thanks to paranoidbychoice!!! For being our one and only reviewer on chapter 1!! You Rock!!! And also to RD-Kun! For helping me all the way!!!

* * *

Hoshi clung to her mother crying her heart out, as Keiko brushed her hands through the small girl's blonde locks in an attempt to soothe her. It had been three days ago that Rai, and Nozomi rushed in with the news of Hinata's disappearance.

_Neither one had seen exactly who it was that had been standing in the clearing that day. The only thing they could clearly recall was that it was a woman with pink hair standing in black from head to toe. Something sitting on top of her head that resembled a mask from what they could see of it. And some kind of grayish- white vest-like armor covering her chest and stomach._(sorry sorry I really don't know how to explain the armor ANBU wear)

_When the girls had finally gotten to where the woman had been standing the stranger was long gone. Hinata's basket lay on the ground a few yards from the tree, and she was no where to be seen. _

_When Nozomi relayed this information to Hinata's family she had to try to choke back her sobs. If only they hadn't left Hinata alone, she would be sitting with them right now. Who knew who those people were or where they had taken Hinata! _

_Kiyoshi listened intently to every word uttered from Nozomi, analyzed every sentence carefully. These people wore black from head to toe, and armor...obviously some kind of ninja. Most likely from the elite ANBU. What surprised him was when asked Nozomi told him that the woman had nothing covering her face. ANBU never showed their face. But there had been something on top of her head that they say looked to be a mask of some sort. He went over that a few times then decided that these people were most definitely from a hidden ninja village and more than likely ANBU. _

_After they listened to the girls recount the story Kiyoshi decided that himself and Kisho would travel to the nearest hidden village, the sand village. Kiyoshi had been there a few times before, mostly to trade in the weapons he made for a little extra cash, so he knew the kazekage though mean looking was a rather nice kid. He would be able to get the information he needed in the sand village. _

That had been a good three days ago. Kiyoshi and Kisho were still not home, and neither was Hinata. Hoshi had not stopped crying for the past three days, uttering something about the man from her nightmare and Keiko was worried to the extreme. She felt as if she would soon suffer from a heart attack.

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Hinata blinked her eyes open rapidly then flinched at the pain that seared into her from the neon white light surrounding her. She closed her eyes tight to block out the burning, then opened them slowly once again. The faint sounds of people talking floated into her ears, though she couldn't make out the words nor could she clearly make out their profiles through the fuzz…

A small moan escaped her as she tried pushing herself into a sitting position, earning her the attention of the people in the room.

Tsunade looked toward Hinata, letting out a breath she hadn't known she was holding. Then turned her attention back to the flustered looking blonde "Naruto do you know what kind of consequences this will have! You're going to be the next Hokage, and you decide to kidnap someone!!"

Naruto hadn't taken his eyes off Hinata, he couldn't. "It's not someone baa-chan…it's Hinata…"

The room fell silent.

Her head was spinning, she felt as if she had just been twirled for hours on end. With the last of her strength she pushed herself into a sitting position. Then laid her head back against the pillow to calm the dizzying feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Naruto watched Hinata carefully; she seemed to be in a lot of pain. He hadn't meant for there situation to come to this but he panicked. It didn't matter though; the effects were wearing off so she would be as good as new in a few minutes.

The chloroform was only supposed to last for an hour at most, but Hinata had been sleeping for three days straight. More than likely due to the fact that the cloth was damper than it should have been, and she had taken a lot more of the liquid than Naruto had intended.

But now that she was awake he could explain 'rationally' that he needed Hinata here with him, so that they could recover her memory and she could get better. It was probably the best idea he had ever had.

**'Or the dumbest.'** Kyuubi interjected.

As usual Kyuubi went ignored by Naruto. Over the years the container had learned that if you listen to what the fox said without any sass back or complaint he just shut up....so instead of listening he just pretended to when in actuality Naruto was just ignoring him.

Tsunade's eyes never left the missing Hyuuga for minute. She had really changed over the years; she looked more like a woman than a little girl. All the memories of the shy kunoichi flooded through her mind. She had honestly thought there was no hope in seeing Hinata again. And believed like many others that she was lost forever, living with Kami her self. However they were all terribly wrong. The girl was very much alive, and she couldn't be any happier. Tsunade had to stop herself from getting too emotional over the whole situation.

Ever since she had become Hokage Tsunade had become very close to all of the shinobi of the village, and Hinata was no exception. After Naruto's return from his 3 year training mission Tsunade had been stressed out extremely. With the threat of Akatsuki and Orichimaru closing in on them she had literally torn herself apart worrying for the knuckle-head Naruto. But she hadn't been alone. Almost every mission Naruto went on to 'eliminate' the threat tore her apart. But the shy little kunoichi sitting in the hospital bed would come to see her every time. Both of them sitting and talking for hours, comforting each other, by reminding themselves just how strong Naruto had become. Hinata being the kind girl she was would even sneak a few bottles of sake for Tsunade. Saying she knew Shizune wouldn't approve, but it wouldn't hurt anything.

No one could ever imagine what a great feeling it was to see 'little' Hinata alive and well for Tsunade. If it didn't look like Hinata was literally forcing her self to sit, Tsunade would have already been choking the life from her with a hug.

NOT that Tsunade agreed to the terms on which Hinata was brought back to them however. Kidnapping was not something the next Rokudaime should do.....but if she were in his position she wasn't so sure that she wouldn't have done the same thing.

Hinata looked to what she suspected to be a window on the far wall. Slowly her vision came back into perspective, and she realized she was staring at a painting of a flower field. Now that her vision was back she checked herself over, a quick check up, to make sure she was intact.

A wave of relief washed over her when she found her body was fine, but it was quickly replaced with a feeling of dread.

She remembered what happened now. She had been kidnapped!!!

Hinata's movements were so quick Naruto thought she was going to charge at him. She threw the covers off of herself then pushed off the bed to stand wobbly on her feet. Tsunade frowned and tried to steady the girl but Hinata nudged away her hands gently but firmly.

Naruto could see the horror in Hinata's eyes and mentally cursed himself for not thinking ahead of time to brace her for waking up in the hospital. Kami knows it's not exactly the most welcoming or comfortable place to wake up. He knew from experience.

"Hinata-Chan I think you should rest a little more!" Naruto tried to persuade Hinata back onto the hospital bed but she was having none of it.

She pushed him away just as she had Tsunade; she had to get out of here they had left her in her clothes, so she didn't have to worry about that. Without speaking she walked past the two ninja. She felt dirty, and gross like she hadn't bathed in days, the sooner she got home the better.

Hinata walked as quickly as she could manage down the hospital halls toward the lobby and out the door, earning a few glances from people passing by. She stumbled slightly as she stepped out of the hospital into the sun. It was an ultra sunny day, which only made her head pound all the more.

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Naruto noticed the glare Tsunade was sending his way. He was so shocked at her reaction he didn't even chase after the girl. However after regaining his senses he laughed nervously and ran after Hinata, catching her right outside the door before she once again fell.

"Come on Hinata-chan, you need to stay in bed a little while longer."

Hinata got to her feet then forcefully pushed Naruto away and turned her back toward him. She didn't know where her strength was coming from, but she wasn't complaining. Where was she!

"I will. As soon as I get back home." Her voice was low but held the same power as Tsunade when she was yelling, cutting Naruto like a knife.

He knew he couldn't let Hinata push herself like this. He had to do something quickly, without help she would never fully recover, or make it back to her village for that matter.....wait....that was it.

"Fine you can go back.....but, do you know how?"

Hinata froze but kept her back turned toward Naruto. Then she turned to him an uncharacteristic determined look in her eyes. Naruto was a little taken back at the icy glares she shot at him, he was almost certain the atmosphere had dropped to eight below from her aura, but he fought hard not to show his discomfort. Hinata leaned in until she was only inches from Naruto's face.

"You. Will. Take. Me. Home." Her voice stayed just as soft as before, but Naruto could feel the Goosebumps starting to run up and down his spine.

"You are home." Naruto retaliated, leaving no hints that Hinata was starting to get to him. If she thought that he would go through all the trouble of bringing her back just to let her go, she was completely wrong.

After a minute of searching the mans eyes, she found that there was probably no way he would relent. That was the last straw. Hinata had, had enough. She was tired, dirty, hungry, all she really wanted to do was break down into tears. How could her life go so wrong? It wasn't enough that she lost her memory and her family once, now she was losing the only family she had ever known for the past four years. They probably thought she ran away. Hoshi probably hated Hinata now! For all anyone knew Hinata could have left on her own, leaving everyone behind. In a split second, Hinata was on her knees cradling her face in her hands as the tears spilled from her eyes.

Naruto immediately regretted having been so stubborn. He should have bargained with her, made a deal, promised that she could eventually go back to see her parents, anything! He hated to see Hinata in this much pain. Naruto knew it was his selfishness that was making her so unhappy, it was his selfishness that was keeping her here in Konoha against her will, but even knowing all of that....he just couldn't let her go. Naruto knelt down to Hinata, reaching his hand out to gently caress her face.

Hinata felt something soft touch her cheek, and in one fell swoop she was back in her first dream.

_Blinking she opened her eyes, to come face to face with the golden eyes of a fox. _

_She tried to scream but nothing came out. She tried to move but her body was paralyzed. Hinata couldn't even rip her gaze from the mesmerizing golden_

_orbs of the fox. His tails swooshed around him creating gusts of wind like hurricanes. Hinata flinched as it brought one to caress her face. Then _

_she started to realize that it wasn't threatening her. Her body relaxed. _

Hinata opened her eyes to lock her pale lavender eyes with Naruto's ocean blue orbs. She had never noticed it before, probably because this was the first time she had gotten the chance to look at her captor, but the whisker marks on his face stuck out so much more to her now. Glancing from his face to his clothes she noticed he was not wearing the same outfit she had remembered seeing him in. Instead he wore orange Capri's, and a black and orange jacket that was unzipped to reveal the black T-shirt he wore underneath. It was completely black with a red spiral in the middle of his chest. Why? Why did he seem so much like the fox from her dreams. With just a simple touch she seemed to relax.

Hinata fell on her butt completely in the dirt. She felt so utterly defeated and drained. Who knew finding ones past would ruin their future...Kami, she missed her family.

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Kiyoshi walked in front of Kisho as a guard led them down the dimly lit hall toward the office of the Kazekage. The place was far from welcoming looking, though it seemed to not bother Kiyoshi in the least.

Kisho however was starting to get the heebie jeebies. More than one story about the Kazekage had spread to their village. Most said that he was the cruelest ninja they had ever seen, and that if you even looked at him the wrong way he would bury you alive with his sacred sand. Kisho shivered at the very thought. He was about to offer that Kiyoshi go see the Kazekage alone, but he decided to rethink that decision.

If he were to do that, his father might think him weak. Then Kiyoshi would never ask Kisho to accompany him anywhere again. Besides this wasn't about him, it was about Hinata, and getting her back!

The guard stopped outside enormous double doors to talk to two other guards. They exchanged a few words then nodded their approval and walked into the room to announce their visitors.

Kiyoshi waited patiently outside until the shinobi came back out to escort them inside. The room was rather large with windows lining the outer wall. A desk sat on the right side of the room, and a case of books on the other, and just in front of the windows stood the Kazekage.

Kiyoshi bowed, Kisho following his lead. Gaara nodded back then motioned toward two seats in front of him. The two men took a seat with Gaara.

Kisho had to keep the shock from showing in his eyes. When they said 'kid' he had expected someone in their late twenties, not a boy his age.

"I hear you need information on some shinobi?" Gaara asked. Clearly ready to get down to the business at hand. He was never one for small talk, or beating around the bush, and neither was Kiyoshi.

"My daughter was kidnapped by some shinobi. Whether they were from this village or not I don't know. I do know however that you are the only hidden village within miles of here that on occasion cross through our land." Kiyoshi stated simply.

Gaara sat silently, contemplating over what Kiyoshi had just told him. To the best of Gaara's knowledge, no one other than him self had passed by the farming territory, and that was only on his was back from Konoha….with Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke! Somehow this didn't make scenes; they were definitely the last people Gaara would ever suspect of kidnapping someone, let alone an innocent farming girl.

That and the path they had taken was at least a few miles from where Kiyoshi and his family lived. Still their village was well within the territory of Suna, and if any rogue nin, or visiting shinobi had been spotted in the area his ANBU squad would have alerted him immediately. There had been far too many ambush attempts around the area, so Gaara had taken extra precautions to ensure the citizens safety. So that only left one option, still it was Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke. Though he couldn't be sure of Sasuke he knew that neither Naruto nor Sakura would do something so foolish, and from what he did know of Sasuke he doubted he would have any use for a farm girl. There had to be a piece missing in the puzzle.

"Tell me more about your daughter."

"Her name is Hinata. She isn't our real daughter; we have adopted her into our family after discovering her near death on the outskirts of town. She is about 5'3 in height with long indigo colored hair, and pale lavender eyes."

Kiyoshi didn't know if describing his foster daughter would help any. But anything was worth a shot.

Kisho was a little surprised at how much information his father was giving to this....kid. Kiyoshi never trusted anyone with that kind of information, yet here he was spilling his guts to a boy as old as Kisho himself.

Hinata? Gaara flipped the name in his mind many times before the image of a young girl with short indigo hair, and pale pupiless lavender eyes faded into his mind. He remembered who she was vividly. Hinata had been paired up with her cousin Neji in the preliminaries the first year that he had gone to Konoha for the Chunnin exams. She stuck out, whether she realized it or not, because of the effort she showed during the match, although she didn't win. He could also recall a few times he had come to visit Konoha and found the young girl sitting with Tsunade discussing important 'business' as they liked to call it. It all made sense now. There was no doubt in his mind what had happened to the girl now.

Gaara had been one of the ninja on the field that day when they battled to bring back Sasuke, which just happened to be the same day that Hinata had vanished. It had devastated the entire village. They had gained back Sasuke, but at what cost, now they had lost yet another precious person.

The only thing that still wasn't clicking in Gaara's mind was how she got from the sight of the battle, to the farming village. The battle had been at least a good day away from the border of the farming village. Still the fact was that somehow she had made it there and managed to survive.

"I have a good idea of where your daughter is."

"Where?" Kisho asked

"The village hidden in the leafs." Gaara replied. For some reason he didn't feel the need to say any more than what was necessary. Gaara understood why they had taken Hinata, technically in their mind he hadn't kidnapped her, just brought her home. Still he was obligated to help put the family at ease.

"Hyuuga Hinata, that is her real name, belongs to Konoha. It was where she was born and raised. That's where her family is. She had been one of the most promising Kunoichi in the village. Skilled in taijutsu, ninjutsu, and genjutsu, and also the next in line to become heir to the Hyuuga household….. But I do realize that Naruto Sakura and Sasuke, who I'm sure, are the ones who took her, were wrong in doing so. So I shall go to the village myself to set things straight."

Kiyoshi and Gaara stood, Kiyoshi relaying his gratitude before turning to leave, Kisho following reluctantly behind him. How could Kiyoshi just walk away like that! This man could probably care less how the family felt, how much they were hurt that Hinata had been taken from them. How could he? Obviously the Kazekage _knew_ the man who took Hinata from them, how could Kiyoshi trust him to bring her back to them. If that was even the Kazekage's intention at all.

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After Hinata had cried her eyes out, Naruto had finally convinced her to rest for a while. However the only place Hinata was willing to go was to the park swings.

She sat with her head against the cold chain of the swing, slowly rocking back and fourth. She just couldn't figure out how her life was going so wrong. She had wished for years to know who 'she' was, but now.....now she wasn't sure she cared if it meant that she would lose her family.

Naruto sat in the swing next to her, digging his sandals into the dirt, trying to think of something to say. Hinata seemed so lost and alone since she broke down, and he just didn't know what to do to make her feel better. Well he knew one thing; he was just too selfish to do it. He looked over to see Hinata playing with the bracelet around her wrist, and he smiled.

"Do you wear that all the time?"

Hinata stopped fiddling with her bracelet to reach up and brush her hair behind her ear and nod. "It was the only thing I had when Kiyoshi found me."

Hinata smiled when she remembered the day she had woken up to see strong quiet Kiyoshi, crying for joy to see the young girl was ok and alive. Tears falling from his eyes without any look of shame or guilt.

"Ya know he acts all distant, but he's just a big teddy bear…" Hinata laughed softly at her own joke, and her face once again fell.

Naruto hated to see her like this, he felt himself breaking down. If this continued he could tell he would be taking her home, just to make her smile. There had to be someway to cheer Hinata up, but keep her with him. Taking her back was completely out of the question, maybe if he bargained with her. Found a way to make her happy.

"Hinata...if I promise to take you home in two weeks, will you cheer up enough to let Tsunade try and bring back your memory?"

Hinata bit her bottom lip, either this was going to be a huge mistake, or the best thing to happen to her. She couldn't deny the wanting to have her memory back. But she also couldn't tell whether or not Naruto was being sincere with his promise. She ran through her decisions quickly, the only one that seemed to guarantee her safe arrival back to her home was to agree with Naruto. She wasn't stupid she knew this was a bribe. She would cheer up for him, if he took her home like she wanted. Still she took it.

"Ok."

Naruto jumped from the swing with a cry of joy, causing Hinata to laugh. "All Right! Welcome home Hinata-Chan!....I've missed you"

Hinata smiled, blushing at his last comment. "Ano....Thank you….is there somewhere I could.....clean off?"

Hinata blushed when she noticed Naruto's confused look. She really didn't want to go into any further detail. Then something snapped into Naruto's head. He had completely forgotten that for the past three days Hinata had been bed ridden, unable to clean her self.

"Right! Follow me!" Naruto grabbed Hinata by the hand to lead her out of the park and down the streets of Konoha.

As far as Hinata could tell it seemed to be a very nice place. People just went about their business, like any other village would. Yet she noticed how many would stop to stare as Naruto led her away. There stares were unnerving giving Hinata a self-conscious feeling. She looked her self over, afraid she looked as dirty as she felt, but she looked just fine.

Her gaze fell on her hand still wrapped around Naruto's. THAT was probably the reason everyone was looking her way. Hinata looked up to see the fox like grin painted onto Naruto's face. Her inner self mentally noted his sharpened canines. With every detail she observed she started to blush more and more realizing she was in some way attracted to this man.

"We're here!"

Naruto motioned toward the large apartment complex she assumed was his home. Naruto led Hinata through the doors and up to his apartment door. Turning the knob and leading Hinata inside, never once lessoning his grip on her hand. Hinata inspected the room.

The two of them stood in the living room, with the kitchen right next to it, no wall in between to separate the two room's, just small counters, and a hallway to the left. The apartment looked rather large for only one person. Mentally Hinata wondered if Naruto was the only one living there.

"Ano...where's the bathroom Naruto-San?" Hinata asked not quite sure where to go.

Naruto cringed at the word san. That was probably the first time he had ever hated hearing it so much. Then for a brief moment he wondered how Hinata knew his name. He didn't remember telling her? A glimmer of hope, that Hinata was beginning to remember him started to shine until he realized she had heard his name that day under the tree, and when Tsunade was talking to him in the hospital room. Man that was such a downer!

"This way." Naruto let go of Hinata's hand and headed back the hall toward the bathroom. He opened the door for her. "I'll let you borrow some of my clothes, until I can get you something to wear."

Hinata nodded then walked inside the bathroom. "Thank you Naruto-San."

"You can just call me Naruto!" Naruto struck the good guy pose, usually restricted to Lee and Gai, making Hinata laugh again as she nodded.

Naruto laughed, scratching the back of his head. "Well I have to speak with Baa-chan so I won't be here when you get out. I'll leave the clothes outside the door for you."

"You like orange a lot don't you?"

Hinata didn't know where the question came from, but with the discussion of clothes, and noticing all the orange Naruto was wearing she just asked. She knew that her question sounded stupid, and her inner self was yelling at the top of her lungs screaming at Hinata. Naruto just smiled. He had never heard someone change topic that quickly, unless it was him trying to get out of work by playing coy.

"Believe it!...Why do you hate orange?" Naruto asked. He could always ask to borrow some clothes from Tsunade if she didn't like orange. Of course the clothes might be a little to....big, but he could always fix that. The one thing he didn't want to do was risk Hiashi knowing about Hinata before they spread the word through the village that she was here. So he definitely couldn't go to the Hyuuga house for clothing.

The whole reason he was meeting with Tsunade again was to make sure that him self, and a few other shinobi succefully spread the word. The two had been discussing it earlier, but Hinata woke up and their conversation went to hell. Now he would have to take care of that, and make sure no one acted weird around Hinata, frightening her. The important thing was that they move slowly with her, not rushing into anything to soon. Kami only knew how many people had stopped to stare when he brought her to his house.

"Oh, no! I like orange!" Hinata spoke quickly, afraid she may have offended Naruto.

Naruto smiled. "Alright then, well I probably won't be back till around nine o'clock. Make your self comfortable until I come back!"

Turning away from Hinata he made his way down the hall and into his room. Before he could go anywhere he had to change into his ANBU gear. After all it took a hell of a lot to get to that point. So why not show it off?

Hinata closed the bathroom door softly when she saw him disappear. Was she really expected to spend the night in a strange house, in a strange place that she had never been, with no one with her? She sighed; maybe she would just spend the rest of the night safe in the tub!

Mentally laughing at her own joke she set to the task of cleaning herself up.

After getting out of the shower she dried herself off, and changed into the clothes that Naruto had placed on the outside of the bathroom door. Hinata was never one for tight or revealing clothes so she thanked Kami Naruto was a man. The outfit he gave her was a pair of black knee length shorts, and a nice orange top with a red spiral on the chest.

She checked herself over one last time before pulling her damp hair up into a ponytail, and making her way out of the bathroom and toward the kitchen. She wasn't really hungry so she got a glass of water and sat on the couch. Turning on the T.V. she flipped through a few channels before deciding there was really nothing worth watching.

Still she didn't want to just sit in a silent house, so she left it on some infomercial station.

Without realizing it she had gotten caught up in the 'revolutionary' new technology they were selling, and didn't notice her visitor crouching in the open kitchen window. His eyes no longer buried into his little orange porn book, but staring intently at the young woman across the room. A small smile somewhat visible under his mask.

Hinata had lifted her glass to her lips for a drink, but realized she had unknowingly downed the whole thing. Finally pulling her eyes off the television she stood and turned to walk toward the kitchen but froze when she saw her stalker.

Kakashi's smile widened. She had finally pulled her self out of the television enough to notice his presence. Of course he knew he wasn't supposed to act weird around the girl, Naruto had already made sure to tell him. But a visit couldn't hurt right?

"Yo!"

Hinata couldn't breathe, she couldn't even move. She felt her face flush, before finally snapping to her senses.

"KKKYYYYYYYAAAAAAA" With a loud scream she hurled her empty cup at Kakashi, catching him right in the forehead and sending him flying into the alley below.

After finally getting her legs to move she rushed to the window, and looked down below. Unfortunately for her no one was there. Her heart was pounding out of control. Where was he? What if he was climbing back up!? Without another thought she slammed the window closed. She looked for some kind of lock but found that there wasn't one!

Clutching her chest she ran to the room Naruto had disappeared into earlier to change. Flipping on the lights, she found that his room was surprisingly very clean for a man. Shaking the thoughts from her head she closed the door behind her, and almost screamed when she found there was no lock on this door either!

This was insane! Where was she supposed to go? Then she remembered, the bathroom door had a lock! With a relieved sigh she grabbed the blankets from Naruto's bed, and after checking to see if the coast was clear, raced toward the bathroom. Locking the door behind her. When she had originally said it, she didn't think she would actually have to. But it didn't matter now, finally she was safe!

---------------------------------------------------

Kakashi walked casually through the streets, rubbing the bump that was forming on his forehead. Damn, that didn't go as well as he had thought it would. He only wanted to have a little talk, not freak her out.

'Should have known sneaking through the window would be a bad idea.." Letting out a sigh he whipped out his book and continued on his way.

"Oh well there's always another day!"

------------------------------------------------------

Naruto raced through the village, jumping from roof top to roof top. He was almost done informing everyone. The only ones he had left were the Hyuuga's…

'Agh! This is going to be a trip!' he thought sarcastically.

"**Well what you did was stupid, kit. Maybe if you listen to me a little more, you wouldn't be doing this right now."** Kyuubi interjected.

Naruto just growled. It was getting harder and harder to ignore the demon.

'Why do you care anyway! You may not be as mean to me as you once were. But I never thought you would care about Hinata…' Naruto smiled when he heard the rumble of Kyuubi's growl.

"**I DON'T"** he snarled out. But Naruto could tell he was lying. Over the years, although Naruto had taken to ignoring Kyuubi quite a bit, he still knew the beast well enough to know when he was lying.

As it had turned out the Kyuubi really wasn't that bad. Naruto still didn't know why the Kyuubi had attacked Konoha….but for some reason he had believed him when he said he had a good reason.

_~flashback~_

_Naruto sat on the roof of the apartment complex. His face revealing the nervousness he felt inside. In his hands a small, but long black box. A pretty blue bow sitting on top and a tag that read Hinata. _

_Today was the big festival to celebrate the day the Kyuubi had fallen at the hands of the Yondaime. It was also the day that Naruto had worked up enough courage to finally ask the shy indigo-haired kunoichi to meet with him. He had taken a liking to the girl since his return home from training with Ero-Sennin. But he never had the guts to tell her….until today_

_Earlier he had slipped into the Hyuuga compound to leave a note on Hinata's bed. She hadn't been there like he hoped, but he knew she would get it…..Would she come though??_

_Naruto was cut from his thoughts when Kyuubi spoke._

"_**Such a nice gift for your little vixen."**__ The sarcasm was very evident._

'_Shut-it you stupid fox! T-this is important…what if she doesn't like it…what if she doesn't like me' Naruto could feel his heart rate speed up. If this kept up he would suffer from a heart attack. Man he wished she'd get here soon._

"_**Do not worry so much. The bracelet is beautiful, and I'm sure she'll love it, just as she loves you." **_

_Naruto searched his voice for any hints of sarcasm…but could find nothing but sincerity. _

'_W-why are you being so nice to me?' He asked, momentarily distracted._

"_**I have not always been the Kyuubi that these villagers portray me as. Before I was sealed I also had precious people."**_

'_Then why did you scare me so much! Why were you always trying to ruin my life' Naruto didn't believe a word he said. How could someone who tortured him so much say such a thing?_

_Kyuubi sighed __**"It is true I have not always been as kind to you as I should have. However how would you feel being imprisoned inside a human for the rest of your immortal life?"**_

_Naruto didn't answer. He could see his point…but was he being honest?_

"_**I can sense that you're still skeptical so I'll go on. At first I was beyond angry. To be locked away for all eternity. Unable to roam free as I once had, all because of a stupid mistake."**_

_Naruto took this moment to interrupt 'You call killing innocent villagers a stupid mistake?!'_

_The fox demon only shook his head. __**"I had a good reason for attacking you know. It was not till I was already sealed that I learned Konoha was not truly at fault and that 'caring' stranger had lied to me. The things I have done could never be forgiven. Truthfully I do not pretend to think they ever could. I now realize that this is the punishment that is most fitting for my crime."**_

_With still no answer from his container he continued. __**"As I was saying I was beyond angry. So I lashed out at you every chance I had. Deciding that if I was going to be miserable then so would you. As you grew I tried harder and harder to make your life hell. Then I noticed something…"**_

'_What?' Naruto asked, his interest was peeked._

"_**Torturing you was pointless."**_

'_Pointless?? What do you mean?'_

"_**Let me finish! There was absolutely no point in torturing someone who lived through much worse treatment everyday of his life. There was nothing I could do to make your life worse. I also realized that you were being punished, by the very people you had saved. What could I do that would ever top that? Still knowing this I couldn't bring myself to be kind to you!"**_

'_Oh yeah…well why are you being nice now?' Naruto had become depressed. With all the talk of the villagers his spirit had steadily falling._

_Kyuubi only smiled__**. "Because I am happy for you, and I want to express it. After all the years of loneliness and torture, things are finally starting to look up for you. You've been trained by one of the greatest shinobi to walk this earth. The villagers though not fully, are starting to respect you. And more importantly you've found the one thing on this earth that means anything at all….your vixen."**_

_Naruto felt the tears streaming down his face but he did nothing to hide them. These were tears of joy, not sadness, and he would wear them proudly._

"_**That and through-out these short years I have come to respect you kit. Through all the hardships you never once gave into my offers that would lead you down the path of darkness and ultimate power. Where you could easily take revenge on all those people who had ever scorned or hated you. Instead you chose to protect them, like the hero you were born to be. That is what a Hokage is, and you will be the best of them all kit….just give it time."**_

_Naruto smiled, he had never heard anyone say such kind words to him. Well except for Hinata. _

"_**Now snap to attention. Your vixen is on her way. And do not worry she will love the gift, and you as well. You have chosen wisely. Good luck…"**_

_~flashback end~_

He was getting closer to the Hyuuga compound now and mentally prepared himself for a long night.

'There not gonna take this well'

"**They are fools if they think you have anything but the best intentions for your vixen!"** Kyuubi boomed

Naruto let out a soft chuckle, noticing how he had gone from scolding him to defending him. 'Thank you Kyuubi'

* * *

SR- Well how was it!?

Naru – No way the Kyuubi was never nice like that!!

Kyuubi – **There's more to me than you know boy…**

SR - *laughs at Naruto's shocked look*

Hina – Please review *sad puppy eyes*

SR – I've taught you well T_T


End file.
